For thousands of years, Reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) has been a cornerstone tonic herb in Asian herbalism. In ancient times, it was so highly regarded and treasured that it was reserved only for Emperors, royalty and the rich upper classes.

But perhaps it’s most significant health benefit is its calming and stress-reducing ability. Reishi has been called the ultimate anti-stress herb, and for good reasons.

Reishi has a long history of use in ancient China by Taoist monks and sages for cultivating spiritual energy, reducing stress, calming the mind, and transforming negative energy in the body. Its thought to open up the crown chakra (the energy centre at the top of the head), and clear karmic obstacles and old psychic baggage.

For centuries, Reishi has traditionally been used to combat sleep issues like insomnia and support symptoms of anxiety, depression and excessive stress.

Stress is pervasive in our culture today and for most of us, a normal part of everyday life. But it’s much more than that. Studies have shown that stress is one of the biggest underlying factors of disease.

When we’re stressed, our self-control goes out the window. We tend to binge on bad foods, crave sweets, sugar, and alcohol, and neglect exercise and a good night’s sleep. All of this is means bad news for our health–hormone imbalances, digestive troubles, fatigue, brain fog, inflammation and more.

Not to mention the impact stress has on productivity in our society, causing billions of dollars in losses every year.

Fortunately, nature provides substances that can help us overcome adversity, restore balance, adapt to stressful circumstances and aid in the transition of difficult stages in our life.

Reishi mushroom may be one of humanity’s best tools to develop higher levels of consciousness, combat stress, and help relieve and support the global epidemic of mental health issues.

Stress and Anxiety in Modern Life

Given the fact that stress is one of the biggest underlying factors of disease today, it’s unfortunate that it rarely gets the needed attention it deserves. It’s not that surprising, however, considering how broken the treatment of mental health is in our society.

Neuroscience and other mental health-related fields are sadly neglected. Health resources are being directed to other medical areas despite the fact that depression is the leading cause of disability in the world today.

And the pharmaceutical drugs that are available, the SSRI antidepressants, are much less effective today than they were when introduced in the 1980’s. They perform only slightly better than a placebo today. Very few advancements have been made in mental health in the last four decades.

And unfortunately, as a result, there is very little help for people.

At this point, it’s worth mentioning the disclaimer for this article now: If you do suffer from depression or any anxiety disorder and are taking medication, be aware that Reishi mushroom is not a substitute for any prescription drugs or medications. Please do not take Reishi mushroom in place of your medication without consulting your doctor or psychiatrist.

It’s estimated that one in thirteen people globally suffers from an anxiety-related illness. That’s a lot of anxious people!

And that doesn’t include all the undiagnosed people that keep on powering through, feeling the hectic toll of modern life without presenting any of their symptoms to a doctor. Many of us trudge along, push through, try harder, think harder, grind harder and submit to the demands of modern life.

Why?

Because stress and anxiety seem to be rewarded in our society.

The constant striving and continuous need to appear busy and high functioning at all times has a certain prestige in our culture. Even at the cost of our best health.

We, or rather, the ‘I’ we identify with needs to feel important. We need to be seen that we're achieving something even if it’s only on the surface, and even to our detriment. We do so in the hope of gaining the approval of others and go on searching outside of ourselves to prove we are important, that we are someone worthy of love. Maybe we will accept ourselves once others do?

Then, when the anxiety hits, we ignore it, soldier on, continue hustling and seeking outside solutions. We cope by self-medicating and consuming copious amounts of coffee and sugar-loaded junk foods that help us power through until we’re teetering on the edge of a complete burnout, or a more serious pathological and medical diagnosis.

How do we fix it?

Making simple lifestyle changes can work wonders to stabilise mental health and reduce our stress levels and anxiety. Practice slowing down, be more kind and gentle to yourself, live cleaner, get more sleep, exercise and eat stress-lowering foods like Reishi mushroom.

Reishi Reduces Stress and Improves Anxiety

Reishi mushroom is regarded as the number one superior tonic herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is the most widely studied herb in the world and has been in use throughout Asia for a wide range of health and longevity benefits for over 2000 years.

Preliminary studies indicate that Reishi mushroom may decrease anxiety and depression as well as improve the quality of life in people suffering from certain medical conditions. Early research suggests that the polysaccharides and triterpenoid compounds are responsible for its stress-lowering capacity. (1,2)

Reishi mushroom works to combat stress and anxiety in our lives in a number of ways:

Reishi Calms the Central Nervous System

Reishi has the extraordinary ability to support stress by nourishing and calming the central nervous system and promoting relaxation. During Reishi mushroom's long history, the people of Asia regularly used it for its calmative effects and ability to strengthen the nerves.

For anyone that’s dealing with anxiety and depression, eating foods that support the central nervous system and balance neurotransmitters can be very helpful. Reishi mushroom is one of those foods.

Neurotransmitters control many functions in the body including communication throughout the body and brain, and they affect every cell, tissue and system in the body. Depression, anxiety and other mood disorders have all been linked to neurotransmitter imbalances. The four major neurotransmitters that are thought to regulate mood are serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and norepinephrine.

Neurasthenia is a condition often associated with depression, anxiety or emotional stress. It's characterised by physical and mental exhaustion with accompanying symptoms such as lassitude, fatigue, headache, irritability and depressed mood. It’s considered very similar to chronic fatigue syndrome. This condition results because of the exhaustion of the central nervous system’s energy reserves mostly attributed to modern life.

A study of 132 people with neurasthenia found a significant reduction in fatigue and improvement in overall wellbeing after using a Reishi supplement for 8 weeks. (2)

Everyone notices the calming effects Reishi’s provides and its benefits seem to be cumulative, building stronger nerves over the long term and actually changing the outlook on a person's life.

When taken, Reishi puts one in a relaxed state which some people have described the experience as almost meditative. For this reason, monks and spiritual sages have been using Reishi as part of their regimen of deepening their meditative practice for centuries.

Reishi Supports the Immune System

Reishi mushroom is one of the best immune system balancing herbs.

Reishi contains over 200 polysaccharide compounds that work to strongly stimulate and balance the immune cells. Research has shown that the polysaccharide content in Reishi mushroom, particularly the beta-1,3 D-glucan, helps boosts the immune system by up-regulating the production of various lymphocytes, T-helper cells, T-killer cells, and macrophages, while also suppressing tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α). (1, 3-8)

When one's immune system is strong and fortified we feel safer. Our body is secure in the knowledge that it's unlikely to succumb to an immune illness (cold or flu etc.) or become susceptible to outside pathogens, microbes, carcinogens or other environmental invaders that will bring us down.

When our first line of defence is strong we feel more protected. We feel empowered and more confident that we can take on more life and this allows us to let down some of the guards we’ve built up and relinquish our fear-related stress.

And this takes a lot of pressure off our adrenals.

Reishi is an Excellent Adrenal Tonic

Reishi provides immense support for the kidneys and adrenals and is one of the best Jing tonics (more below).

During a stressful event, the adrenals produce hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline and more. These are known as stress hormones.

In most cases, the stress hormones are imperative to our survival but too much of them over a long period–as is the case with chronic stress–can burn out the neurotransmitters by damaging the receptor sites which depletes our serotonin and dopamine levels. When our feel-good happy hormones (serotonin and dopamine) are wiped out, this leads to increased feelings of stress, anxiety and depression.

If you’ve just experienced a high adrenaline event, for example, you’re more likely to notice an increase in depressed feelings or anxiety in the following day or two because your neurotransmitters have been overly taxed. Performers and extreme sports athletes commonly experience this after an event or performance.

That’s why it’s important to consume foods like Reishi mushroom every day to help support the adrenals glands.

Reishi is Neuro-Protective

The polysaccharides and triterpene compounds in Reishi mushroom both exhibit significant neuroprotective effects against stress in the brain.

Memory loss is often the first negative signs of stress in a person. Reishi has long been known to boost brain power, improve memory, and sharpen concentration and focus.

The polysaccharides have shown to protect neurons from apoptosis (cell death), oxidative stress, and improve cognitive dysfunction in vivo. (9)

The active triterpenes in Reishi were also found to stimulate the production of nerve growth factor (NGF).

NGF is required by the brain and important sensory neurons to keep the entire nervous system strong and healthy. However, NGF does not freely cross the blood-brain barrier that easily, but it was found that Reishi acts as an astrocytic NGF inducer. The active constituents showed potent effects on the induction of NGF in primary astrocytes. They further found that Reishi enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis in the brain. (10)

Reishi Supports Gut Health

There is a lot of research suggesting the connection between gut-brain health via the vagus nerve. The GI tract is even considered the “second brain.” The gut, brain and central nervous system all communicate with each other but if our guts are unhealthy, that channel gets cut off and our brain health and cognitive functions quickly decline, along with our moods.

Take this into consideration when understanding how important our gut health in relation to stress, anxiety and overall feel-good health: 75 per cent of our immune system is located in the gut, 80 per cent of neurotransmitters also reside there including 90 per cent of our serotonin (feel-good hormone), which is also synthesised and produced in the gut. Quite astonishing.

Reishi mushroom is one of many foods that can have profound health benefits on the gut.

Reishi acts as a prebiotic in the gut to help establish good flora in the body.

Research studies have shown that mushroom polysaccharides, the long-chain essential sugars in mushroom cell-walls, have a prebiotic effect on the gut microbiome. Prebiotics are substances that feed the probiotics which in turn help stimulate and grow the beneficial bacteria in the gut. This is very important to support healthy gut flora.

Reishi has also shown in studies to influence the composition and ratio of bacteria (Firmicutes: Bacteriodetes) and reverse gut dysbiosis (imbalance) which can occur due to poor diet, stress, diseases, inflammation, poor immune system and parasites.

Reishi Promotes Better Sleep

Sleep is a critical time for the body to regenerate, recover and repair but for most of us, it’s just an annoying roadblock preventing us from getting more work done.

We think we can push through and avoid sleeping a full night but it always catches up with us in the form of bad health and sickness. More and more researching is showing that a lack of sleep causes a whole host of problems including inflammation, brain fog, memory loss, increased stress, anxiety and depression.

Clinical investigations show that Reishi mushroom promotes sleep and helps calm the nervous system. Reishi mushroom was traditionally used in folk medicine of China and Japan to treat insomnia, improve the quality of sleep and help reduce anxiety.

It’s still used today by Chinese and Japanese herbalists for insomnia cases due to its "sleep-promoting factor.” (11)

It's believed the terpenoid compounds in Reishi help soothe the nerves and promote a sedative action that can positively effect neurasthenia and insomnia. Long-term use of Reishi was also shown to increase slow wave sleep (deep sleep). (12-14)

Reishi as a Three Treasure Tonic

The ancient wisdom presented by Taoists provides an even greater understanding of how Reishi mushroom can promote a healing journey toward less stress and anxiety in one’s life. The basis of their understanding begins with the concept of the "Three Treasures."

In Taoist tradition, there is said to be "Three Treasures" that effectively constitute the health of one’s life. These treasures are known as Jing, Chi (or Qi), and Shen. They are generally translated in English as - Essence (Jing), Vitality (Chi), and Spirit (Shen) and they correspond and nurture three basic levels of life - the reproductive, the metabolic and the spiritual.

It is very rare to find one herb that nourishes and tonifies all three treasures and Reishi mushroom is recognised as the most supreme three treasure tonic of all.

Jing is the first treasure and is known as the “superior ultimate” treasure. It represents our most fundamental life-force essence. It is the substance of who and what we are. Jing resides in the kidneys and represents our youthfulness and our ability to heal, repair, and reproduce.

Chi, or Qi, is the second treasure which represents the aspects of our life that involves our action, our function, and our thought. It's really the animation of our Jing energy. Chi is best translated as our day to day energy requirements which we derive from the air we breathe, and the nutrients we digest from the foods we eat. It’s the source of our vitality that nourishes and protects us.

There's a lot more to understand about Jing and Chi and we’ve written extensively about these treasures in earlier articles which you can find here, here, and here.

We need to support our foundations of Jing and Chi energy in the body to create and manifest the third and most important treasure, Shen.

Reishi is the Greatest Shen Tonic

Chinese philosophy suggests that our lives are naturally ruled by the third treasure–Shen.

Reishi mushroom is regarded as the best "spirit elevating" (Shen) tonic that positively promotes mental well-being, calmness, and helps cultivate more peace, love, and happiness in one's life.

In Taoism, Shen is considered the ultimate goal of one’s life. It is the realisation and fulfilment of our life’s purpose and to be a person that can be above right and wrong, good and bad, for and against.

Taoist masters recognized Shen as the aspects of our being related to spiritual, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Shen can be challenging to define in Western terms but it's often translated as “spirit.” It's the connection to our higher self or higher consciousness, and to our spirituality, however, we define that for ourselves.

Shen is like an inner compass that guides the journey of your life. Some might call it 'intuition' but it’s even much more than that.

Unlike Jing and Chi, Shen is formless, it has no substance, it is the divinity that resides inside of each one of us. Shen is ultimately who we really are.

If we are not our body, if our body is temporary, if there is an eternal aspect to “us”, whether you believe it or not, you are more than just your body. The spirit, or the Shen, is the eternal aspect of human beings. Humans differ from animals in that they can perceive their own spirit and consciousness and have the ability to develop intuition, faith, reason, wisdom, willpower, and self-mastery.

“Intuition is not a single way of knowing. It is our ability to hold space for uncertainty and our willingness to trust the many ways we’ve developed knowledge and insight including instinct, experience, faith, and reason." ~ Definition of “intuition” by Brene Brown

Shen–likened to intuition, will give you guidance on how to take appropriate actions and move your life forward successfully on a day to day basis.

Shen Resides in the Heart

Shen is our spiritual power and the realm of the heart.

Physically, Shen manifests as the light in someone’s eyes, the expressions on a person's face and the energy and aura of a stranger. Shen resides in the heart, and when the heart is nourished, one can feel at peace, be happy, calm, manifest their desires in the world and connect with who they truly are.

Reishi mushroom has a tropism for the heart.

When the heart is closed, aggravated, and full of fire, the Shen is disturbed. In other words, when we’re over-stressed, running rampant and burning the candle at both ends, the heart is burning up and working in overdrive to keep up with our accelerating mental pace.

When Reishi enters the heart meridian it helps transform the fire and drains it from the body, thereby opening up space in the heart for the Shen to reside there once again.

Reishi creates a healthy environment in the heart for the spirit to reside and start up those guiding intuitive forces once again.

“When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten, When the belt fits, the belly is forgotten, And when the Heart (Shen) is right, “For” and “Against” are forgotten." ~ Chuang Tzu (Taoist)

And when the Heart is right, it is open and accepting, and the acceptance of whatsoever is–is the basis of Tao.

This is what the classic Taoist Chuang Tzu means when the Heart is right, “For” and “Against” are forgotten. We can accept any circumstances regardless of how we perceive them (good or bad), and in this heart-centred place, there is no stress and no resistance. We learn to just sit in the moment and let go of whatever is unfolding, without judgment. We can live in peace, detached from the outcome.

Shen Disturbances

There are an infinite amount of distractions in our day to day lives that exacerbate our stress levels and trigger anxiety.

At the click of a button, we have access to unlimited sources of entertainment, money, sex, gluttony, work etc. All these distractions promote a disconnection and separation from our true nature and progressively disintegrate the spirit (Shen) in our body. These are known as Shen disturbances.

Individuals who have weak or disturbed Shen tend to be overly stressed, extra sensitive, fragile, emotionally unstable and display symptoms of sadness, anger, anxiety, depression and insomnia. Shen is the ultimate treasure that we must all strive for and maintain if we want to lead a long and peaceful life.

As a great Shen tonic, Reishi mushroom has the wisdom and power to help lead you back to centre, facilitate the discovery of who you really are, and enhance the experience of your life.

Shen is all about mindset and attitude. With or without the physical/material possessions we tend to obsess over–making money, owning fancy cars, homes, jewellery, clothing etc.–if we develop our Shen, we can be happy at any stage of life, whether we’re suffering through great emotional wreckages, health challenges, or financial difficulties.

It’s really important that we develop and maintain a sense of calmness, openness, centeredness, and acceptance to preserve and protect our Shen. In this place, Shen will enable us to be more joyful, grateful, and accepting under any circumstances, and therefore, maintain our balance.

The Art of Balance

Those of us who have found true health and happiness in our lives, know the importance of balance and have mastered the art of balance.

When we are balanced and in a state of harmony, our Shen flourishes and we can manifest new opportunities for personal growth, attain heightened states of awareness, and remove the mental barriers that hold us back. We experience more love, kindness, and acceptance in the present moment while transforming the notions of good and bad, right and wrong, for and against.

However, when Shen is out of balance, fear, anxiety, and worry creeps in, and the mind (ego) and emotions take a hold of us and cloud the spirit.

The negative feedback loop starts up and we lose the ability to be aware and express gratitude in the present moment. We’re depressed about the past and anxious about the future. The “what if’s” take control–"What if I can’t pay rent? or What if I lose my job? and What if she/he doesn’t like me?"

When Shen is out of balance, the ego and all these emotions start to compete for dominance and the Shen goes into hiding. It closes off. As a result, we feel more tired and wired, stressed out and anxious.

But in order to find our balance, we must acknowledge that the point of balance will be different for each of us, and depend on our differing circumstances.

Homeostasis is commonly used as a synonym to balance, however, homeostasis actually refers to the maintenance of a relatively stable internal environment. But our fast-paced lifestyles are rarely stable. They are constantly changing which means our equilibrium is also changing with time.

For example, one may relocate from a town by the ocean where there was ample oxygen supply to a new place high in the mountains where oxygen is limited. The body will need to acclimatise. Or someone might move overseas to a different country in a new time zone. In that case, the circadian rhythms and daily biological rhythms such as sleep-wake cycles and hormonal cycles will need to adjust.

Homeodynamics is, therefore, a more accurate term to describe our forever changing point of balance based on every person's situation. And that’s where the "adaptogens" come in to serve us, and Reishi mushroom is one of the best of them.

Reishi Increases Adaptability to Stress

Our fast-paced modern culture exposes our bodies to many different kinds of stressors every day.

Our cells are fending off hundreds of toxins and pollutants every day from the air, water, and foods we ingest. On top of that, the external pressures forced on us by society cause even more psychological distress.

Our society rewards the hard working individual, the get-up and go-getter attitude, and we wear those traits like a badge of honour.

We lump increasing pressure on ourselves, work too hard, burn our bodies out, get sick, don’t accept the sickness out of fear of showing weakness, and then we feel shame about getting sick and wonder, why me?

Fortunately, we have access to Reishi mushroom, one of the best adaptogenic herbs to support us.

Adaptogens are the most ideal foods to support our frenetic modern lifestyles. Adaptogens are highly intelligent, naturally-occurring and non-toxic substances that work by creating a state of balance within the body, and a state of harmony with the surrounding environment. Adaptogens enhance our body’s natural ability to heal and repair and increase our capacity to deal with stress much more gracefully.

Consuming adaptogenic substances (fungi and plants) is one of the most beneficial health strategies that we can all employ to increase the body’s resistance to physical, emotional, biological, and environmental stressors.

Adaptogens like Reishi mushroom help create benefits to support you at an individual level.

The Liver is the Seat of Emotions

In TCM theory, the liver is regarded as the seat of all emotions. It’s largely responsible for our moods and is associated with anger, rage, and depression. The manifestations of these negative emotions tend to point to an imbalance in liver energy.

Reishi mushroom is regarded as one of the best liver tonics.

Not only does Reishi enhance the liver’s natural detoxification processes by reducing the toxic load from the food, air, water, and environments we live in, but it also supports the liver by calming its excessive energy, thereby allowing us to stay balanced, more peaceful, and comfortably open up and express our true nature.

The liver is associated with the wood element (Yang energy) which is connected with expansive energy and the drive to be creative and bring forth new life. When the liver is balanced and functioning properly a person will be able to express their creative ideas easily and feel motivated and ambitious to be out in the world pursuing what they love. They will feel happy, energised, motivated to grow and develop, and feel comfortable expressing themselves.

Whether you believe you’re a creative person or not, creativity is an innate drive and function of being a human.

If we consciously choose to neglect creativity–which is essentially choosing to hide an aspect of your true self–we shrink, become small, and when that unused creativity builds up it can manifest into more shame, grief, judgment, and anger within us, putting more strain on the liver energy.

Consuming Reishi mushroom can effectively cleanse and calm the liver and help regulate both positive and negative emotions that enable our spirit to grow, evolve and reach its highest potential.

The Mushroom of Spiritual Potency

Over centuries of use, Reishi has earned the title of many fantastic-sounding names including the “Mushroom of Immortality” and “The Supreme Protector”. But perhaps the most misunderstood and fanciful name of all is the “Mushroom of Spiritual Potency.”

Given the current state and traditional view of Western medicine, many mistakenly believe that Reishi is some kind of "spiritual drug" that when taken can eliminate our states of anxiety and depression altogether, just like the claims of a pharmaceutical drug.

Reishi is not some magical spiritual cure that completely wipes out mental problems in an instant. Wouldn’t we all like it to be that easy?

It’s common in our culture to imagine we can take a pill and the pain will go away. We want fast results and quick fixes so we can focus on with what we love and care about most–which, for many of us, are usually external factors unrelated to our true essence anyway.

It's much easier to take a pill and forget about our pain and suffering than it is to fully engage and dive deep into the depths of it. We tend to steer away from our pain and take a symptomatic approach instead of uncovering the root cause. We’d rather not show any weakness or vulnerability.

Let’s be clear. Reishi mushroom is not the answer. It doesn’t ‘fix’ the problem. It’s not your guru or substitute for doing the real work. We’re always told that the answer is out there, somewhere, outside of ourselves. We’re always told to believe that there is something wrong with us that needs to be fixed.

The truth is, there's nothing wrong with you!

You may desire growth or want to be at a new place in your life but you still need to do the work to get there. Reishi mushroom can assist you on your journey in realising and completing that work, but it certainly cannot do the work for you.

The ancient Taoists and spiritual seekers understood long ago that Reishi mushroom enhanced their spiritual practices. They believed that by consuming Reishi during their meditation and yogic practices that it would allow them to attain enlightenment faster, perhaps in their own lifetime.

Reishi works its magic best when we are already engaging in personal development practices. But with or without a spiritual practice, Reishi can also help lay the groundwork for deep spiritual work and be the catalyst for our own personal growth.

Reishi Mushroom in the Wild (Saprophytic Fungi)

To understand how Reishi works effectively on reducing anxiety and improving mental health, it’s helpful to look at how this fungi acts in the wild. Its behaviour within an ecosystem draws some interesting correlations about how it may relate to the workings of the mind.

Reishi mushroom is largely considered to be "saprophytic" in nature.

Saprophytes grow on dead or dying trees and obtain their nutrition from metabolising non-living organic matter. Reishi breaks down the dense organic material (dead trees, logs etc.) into a much finer matter into humus, minerals, and nutrients that can be utilised by the mycelial web within the soil. This in turn feeds and nourishes other mushrooms, plants, insects, and animals.

Saprophytic organisms like Reishi tend to "create space" in an ecosystem by targeting diseased and infected trees (and plants) that would otherwise be a burden or a weakness on the overall health and immunity of the ecosystem. Reishi aims to break down these sick organisms thereby minimising the chances of diseases spreading throughout the ecosystem and allowing space for the creation of new life.

How does this relate to its effects on the human mind?

The emotional turmoil that we endure, the shadow realms of our consciousness, the dark and painful emotions we tend to avoid—pain, fear, anxiety, depression—are not too dissimilar in thought and feeling to the dense and decaying matter that Reishi works to break down in the wild to create new space.

Just like its saprophytic nature, when we consume Reishi it seems to help clear out our mind and create space so the anxiety doesn’t feel as big and heavy anymore.

We need to create “mental” space in order to get some distance from our painful emotions so we can rationally observe them and work on breaking them down through smart analysis and resolutions.

Reishi seems to act very similarly on our own consciousness by improving and supporting our mental faculties and targeting the emotional impediments that block the evolution of our consciousness, and our being.

The Density of Our Darkness and the Light of Reishi

Personally, I have struggled with different forms of anxiety throughout my life (I’m in the undiagnosed camp) and witnessed close friends and family members suffer from depression.

I know when experiencing the depths of these conditions (and the undiagnosed ones) that they can feel extremely overwhelming, heavy, and all-encompassing. The veil of darkness that consumes us in these moments constricts the avenues of our mind that allow for clear thinking, rational thought, positivity, hopefulness, and proper judgement.

Reishi helps to gently break down the density of these insurmountable mental obstacles, making them softer and more pliable. It allows us to navigate through the storms with more ease and gradually weakens and dissolves the anxiety allowing us to see a grander view of our internal suffering.

Normally, we'd try to “fill up" this space with more work, play, shopping, emails, or anything that masked those feelings and/or removed the deafening silence.

But with Reishi as our friendly ally, while it doesn't eliminate the harsh emotions or suffering when we consume it, but rather, it helps opens up mental space to let in more courage and strength. And with that extra strength, we can willingly take a step back, be the observer, and analyse our emotions more rationally. Then we have the opportunity to evaluate what actions we need to take to improve our situation, no matter how small or large it may be.

Reishi seems to loosen the tight grip on the suffocating feeling that these mental barriers can have on our psyche.

Suffering is inherently bound with the human experience. We cannot avoid it. Without suffering, we could not know happiness or experience growth. But if we choose to accept suffering and look for the meaning behind it, its weight will diminish significantly.

Living with uncertainty and feeling like we’re out of control isn’t always nice, but we can help ourselves find direction, peace and meaning in those times with a little help from our friend called Reishi mushroom.

My Experiences with Reishi Mushroom

Reishi mushroom is truly one of the most profound and transformative tonic herbs I’ve had the privilege to include in my life.

After consuming Reishi for many years, I am still experiencing deeper levels of the many physical, emotional, and spiritual health benefits that this incredible mushroom can offer. It has changed the overall perspective and course of my life significantly. I've noticed that I'm much calmer and patient in the face of adversity and no longer that short-fused and overly reactive person that I once was.

I can honestly say that Reishi has affected my spirit deeply, helped guide me to find my purpose and find greater meaning and fulfilment in my life.

Reishi helps lighten the body, the mind, and the spirit and can affect a profound transformation on a person's life. While it’s difficult to scientifically validate and verify these kinds of mental and physiological changes in people, it’s not uncommon to hear similar anecdotal stories of transformation from other long-term Reishi mushroom users.

For some people, benefits can be felt instantly, while others may notice cumulative effects over time. I always recommend consuming Reishi for at least 100 days to receive the full emotional, physical, and spiritual health benefits that this incredible tonic can bring.

Given the current state and climate that the world faces, if there is one herb I could pass on to everyone, it would be Reishi mushroom. It may be one of the most important herbal medicines in our lifetime. For me, it is a herb that I will continue to take every day for the rest of my life.

The Future of Reishi Mushroom

There's no sign that the frenetic pace of the modern world is slowing down. In fact, it’s continuing to speed up every day. We’re on 24/7.

Unlike past generations, 40-50 years ago and more, life ran much slower. Humans were more connected and aligned with the natural cycles and rhythm of nature. We tended to work a normal 9 to 5 job and had ample more opportunities to disconnect from “working life” and spend more time connecting with our family and friends.

The Chinese Taoists have long pursued a spiritual path and learned to live in alignment with the harmonies of nature. The Taoists recognised that the body, mind, and environments are one and the same.

Being the greatest three treasure tonic, Reishi mushroom has the power to align all aspects of one’s being and transform each one of us into a deeper understanding and knowledge of who we truly are. It has the wisdom to teach us how to connect with our higher power, that incredible and indescribable oneness that our souls all strive to reach.

The era of Shen has begun.

Reishi mushroom and other Shen tonics might be some of the most important substances in our pursuit of accelerating personal power on this planet, and for cultivating our true essence and spirit, individually and collectively.

They will make you happier, less stressed, more attuned to nature and help lead you to the truth of who you really are. Isn’t that the direction all our souls evolve toward?

We’re entering a new age. The human race is undergoing a massive transformation into a more heart-based consciousness, a more peaceful world where we love, give, and share, and not selfishly take, take, take. The purpose of our life, I believe, is to develop and evolve your Shen as much as you can during your life.

What does this mean?

Make the conscious effort to find balance, cultivate your spirit, your higher self, and develop a truer understanding of who you really are. These non-physical aspects of who you are will stay with you when your physical body is no longer on this material plane, into the eternal life.

But do it with kindness. Be loving, accepting, and patient with yourself and don't compare yourself with others. You're exactly where you're supposed to be.

Disclaimer: If you do suffer from depression or any anxiety disorder and are taking medication, be aware that Reishi mushroom is not a substitute for any prescription drugs or medications. Please do not take Reishi mushroom in place of your medication without consulting your doctor or psychiatrist. The materials and information provided in this article from Teelixir Pty Ltd, are strictly for informational purposes only and are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention or treatment of a health problem or as a substitute for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please consult your medical practitioner for advice about all food products related to this website before including them into your health program, or making any changes to your diet, lifestyle, or exercise program. Teelixir will not be responsible for any use, non-use, or misuse of any product that is sold or distributed via this website.

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This product is absolutely amazing and definitely does what is advertised. This is my go-to immunity booster when I'm not feeling 100%. It gives me energy and boosts my immune system. A little bit goes a long way so it's definitely worth the money!

Estelle L.

Teelixir were wonderful to order from and I am super pleased with my purchase! Reishi's effects wash over me and coat me in a calm blanket. The power of foods is amazing!

Zoë A.

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